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Monocropping Cultures into Ruin: The Loss of Food Varieties and Cultural Diversity

Author

Listed:
  • Peter J. Jacques

    (University of Central Florida, Department of Political Science, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA)

  • Jessica Racine Jacques

    (University of Central Florida, Department of Sociology, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA)

Abstract

The loss of genetic diversity of thousands of plants and crops has been well documented at least since the 1970s, and has been understood as a result of epistemological and political economic conditions of the Green Revolution. The political economic arrangement of the Green Revolution, alongside a post-war focus on economies of scale and export-oriented growth, replace high-yield single varieties of crops for a diverse array of varieties that may not have the same yield, but may be able to resist pests, disease, and changing climatic conditions. Also, the harvest does not flow in all directions equally: Whereas small holder subsistence farming uses a large variety of crops as a food source and small-scale trade, the industrial economic system requires simplified, machine harvested ship-loads of one variety of maize, for example. Diverse varieties of different crops confound the machines, whereas one variety of wheat can be harvested with one setting on a machine. However, none of this is new. The purpose of this article is to analyze how the twin concerns of lost varietals and lost cultures are bound together in the socio-political process of standardization, and to explain some areas of resistance.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter J. Jacques & Jessica Racine Jacques, 2012. "Monocropping Cultures into Ruin: The Loss of Food Varieties and Cultural Diversity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(11), pages 1-28, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:4:y:2012:i:11:p:2970-2997:d:21279
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vanessa Ortega-Quevedo & Noelia Santamaría-Cárdaba & Cristina Gil-Puente, 2023. "Sustainable Food in Teacher Training: Evaluation of a Proposal for Educational Intervention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Zhenhua Zhu & Hongyan Zhang & Jianjun Zhao & Xiaoyi Guo & Zhengxiang Zhang & Yanling Ding & Tao Xiong, 2018. "Using Toponyms to Analyze the Endangered Manchu Language in Northeast China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, February.
    3. Harpinder Sandhu, 2021. "Bottom-Up Transformation of Agriculture and Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-13, February.
    4. Anubhab Pattanayak & Madhumitha Srinivasan & K. S. Kavi Kumar, 2023. "Crop Diversity and Resilience to Droughts: Evidence from Indian Agriculture," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 28(2), pages 166-188, December.
    5. Avik Ray & Abhra Chakraborty, 2021. "The edible biota in irrigated, deepwater, and rainfed rice fields of Asia: a neglected treasure for sustainable food system," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(12), pages 17163-17179, December.
    6. Aurora Kagawa-Viviani & Penny Levin & Edward Johnston & Jeri Ooka & Jonathan Baker & Michael Kantar & Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, 2018. "I Ke Ēwe ʻĀina o Ke Kupuna: Hawaiian Ancestral Crops in Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-36, December.
    7. Eberhard, Erich K. & Hicks, Jessica & Simon, Adam C. & Arbic, Brian K., 2022. "Livelihood considerations in land-use decision-making: Cocoa and mining in Ghana," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    8. Chinnadurai, M. & Karunakaran, K.R. & Chandrasekaran, M. & Balasubramanian, R. & Umanath, M., 2016. "Examining Linkage between Dietary Pattern and Crop Diversification: An Evidence from Tamil Nadu," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 29(Conferenc).

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